Crispin Gurholt and Heiko Kalmbach make a tree the subject of fictional and documentary explorations in film, text, performance and photography.
In the exhibition "By tomorrow the tree will have a title"Crispin Gurholt and Heiko Kalmbach make a tree the subject of fictional and documentary explorations in film, text, performance and photography.
The artists' collaboration explores themes of projection and becoming by entering narrative spaces with shifting realities and truths to be questioned - always in search of the soul of the tree and its meaning beyond.
What wisdom can this tree in the courtyard of "Am Strom 53" convey to us in relation to our past, present and future? We begin with the assumption that the tree has a soul, a consciousness. Do we recognize whether it is a "she", a "he", or both? Does this tree belong to a family, a community, and how is it connected to other trees and living beings? Is it an activist, a therapist, a soulmate? Is the tree a being like us, even if it does not think, feel or communicate like us?
In the artistic dialog, the tree became a counterpart, a figure that resonates with life and personal history. It connects us with the soul of the tree, with Munch's soul, with the soul of the house, its surroundings, the flowers, nature - and the reality of life. We are confronted, history becomes tangible. The tree has lived through more than two centuries. Reclaiming the tree also means freeing it from all attributions, contexts and associations with its diverse fictional realities - and allowing it to become nature again, a self-determined subject.
But are we even in a position to let go of the tree, to release it from our absurd game of reality? Or will we keep reclaiming it, giving it new titles in our urge to ascribe a deeper meaning to it?
In the game "Now I am here, now I am no longer here, now you are there, now you are gone" we may find something to hold on to. So why not hug the tree - you can call it George or Paula if you like - it feels great.
A simple tree trunk lying there is what you want to see in it.